Using your travel money card overseas at ATM? Whats the charge?

Using your travel money card overseas at ATM? So Whats the charge? British holidaymakers spent over £391 million in ATM withdrawal fees while travelling abroad within the past year, according to new research carried out by Sainsbury’s.

ATM Fees Causing Headaches for ‘Brits Abroad. The findings showed that an estimated £14.2 billion was withdrawn by British holidaymakers over the same 12 month period from cash machines outside of the UK.

The average charge for an ATM withdrawal within the Eurozone was found to be approximately £1.67, with some cash points charging up to £2.66.

ATM charges overseas were less common but still expensive, with approximately 3.7 million people admitting to withdrawing a collective total of £2.6 billion on credit cards.

This works out to an approximate average of £726 per person.

While the majority of people would probably accept that charges such as these are inevitable when using credit or debit cards abroad, the actual figures involved are still quite shocking.

Another rather intriguing set of statistics revealed that men are approximately 50% more likely than women to use their credit cards to withdraw cash while overseas.

While fewer women will use overseas ATM machines to withdraw cash though, those that do are likely to withdraw considerably more than men, on average.

David Barrett, Head of Sainsbury’s Travel Money, said “As a nation, we spend a huge amount every year on our holidays.”

Travel money cards are a great solution for those who are worried about fees and charges while travelling abroad.

Regardless of whether you are staying in Europe or going overseas, you can preload money onto a travel money card before you leave.

This guarantees you won’t be subject to the same charges as someone who is withdrawing money using their debit/credit card while travelling.

If you are worried about getting charged by ATM fees while travelling abroad, a travel money card could help you. The card prevents overspending as there is no overdraft.